Big, runaway snowball slams into college dorm

Published: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 5:30 a.m. CDT

Caption

(AP photo)

This Feb. 8, 2014 image provided by Reed Magazine shows A large snowball crashed into a Grove Quad dormitory Feb. 8 at Reed College in Portland, Ore. The crash ripped a wall off its studs and narrowly missed a window. No one was injured in the collision. College officials said the ball was some 40 inches in diameter and weighed from 800 to 900 pounds.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two math majors at Reed College lost control of a massive snowball that rolled into a dorm, knocking in part of a bedroom wall.

There were no injuries, but college spokesman Kevin Myers said Friday it will cost $2,000 to $3,000 to repair the building.

The incident happened Feb. 8 after a rare trio of snowstorms in Portland.

Students started building the giant snowball on a campus quad near the dorm. Urged by a crowd, the math majors tried to make the snowball as big as possible by rolling it down the sidewalk that goes past the dorm. But it got away.

Nobody weighed the snowball, but a maintenance worker who sliced it up for removal estimated it to weigh 800 pounds or more, Myers said.